For Sale: Live At Maxwell's 1986

The Replacements

The first official live album from the punk rock icons. It’s a ramshackle loud affair and the band sound like they could fall apart at any moment but that energy and those songs make this the perfect document of The Mats. Plus Bob Stinson’s playing, so you know it’s good!

In February 1986, The Replacements performed a classic live show at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ. Until now, that pristine recording of the legendary performance has only been available in low-quality bootleg form. Even so, Pitchfork has called the show “a fiery, focused set that would make a true believer out of any skeptic.” On 6th October, For Sale: Live At Maxwell’S 1986 will finally make its commercial debut as a double-LP. This marks the first live album by the band to see an official release on this format.

The show at Maxwell’s would prove to be one of the last great performances by the four original members of the Replacements, a much beloved line-up including Bob Stinson on guitar, before his departure from the band in 1986. The songs they played spanned the band’s entire history while giving prominence to new material from Tim, including “Bastards Of Young,” “Left Of The Dial” and “Kiss Me On The Bus.” Mixed in were favorites like “I Will Dare” from Let It Be (1984) and “Color Me Impressed” from Hootenanny (1983).

The original 24-track master tapes of the show sat in the Warner Music vaults until being given a proper mix in 2007, but it would still be another decade before the concert would get its official release. Mehr writes in the album’s liner notes: “Now, a decade later, and more than 30 years after the original concert, Replacements For Sale finally offers high-fidelity proof of the peculiar alchemy and unadulterated majesty of one of rock and roll’s greatest bands.”